John Cena The Greatest Champion Ever? Ranking All 46 WWE World Champions

Due to the surprising success of my Ranking Every WWE Champion In The 21st Century article, I thought I might try to follow that up with another article that ranks Heavyweight Champions.

The only difference is, instead of just focusing on WWE Champions in the 21st Century, I will showcase every champion to hold a Heavyweight Title for the WWE.

I started to work on this piece last week, and it is quite long and packed with WWE history.

As we all know, the highest honor any performer in the WWE can ever achieve, is being given the title World Heavyweight Champion.

Being the World Heavyweight Champion simply means that you are the "top-dog", you are the face of your company, and that you are the best at your craft.

So for this article, I would like to both honor and highlight the history of the "WWE World Championships."

More specifically, highlight EVERY single performer who ever held the World Championship, like I stated above.

The first Heavyweight Championship in WWE history, the WWWF Championship, was founded all the way back in 1963, nearly half a century ago, when the original "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers became the first ever WWWF Champion.

Since then, the title has went through many transformations and has seen some of the greatest entertainers in pro wrestling history hold it.

Men like; "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, Triple H, Hulk Hogan, Bruno Sammartino, and a short list of others, have held the title.

To this day, the title is going strong with many future WWE Hall Of Famers honoring it.

Throughout the 20th Century, the only Heavyweight Title the WWE had was the WWE Title.

But when 2001 came around, the WWE Championship received a nice "sister" title when the WWF bought out WCW and the WCW Title became official property of the WWE.

Although the list of "WCWWE" Championships is VERY short, it is still apart of WWE history and should be honored.

So I have included the men that held this championship on the slide show.

After Chris Jericho unified the WCW Title and WWE Title, making it the WWE Undisputed Championship, the belt moved over to SmackDown.

We would wait about a year before the WCW Title was brought back to the WWE as the World Heavyweight Championship, becoming the Heavyweight Title on the RAW brand.

The World Heavyweight Championship is now one of the two Heavyweight Titles the WWE has to offer, and I will be honoring the men who held this title in the slide-show also.

All in all, there have been a total of three recognized Heavyweight Titles in WWE history, and I will attempt to rank all 46 Heavyweight Champions in this slide-show.

Just to clear the air before I continue, I don't recognize the "WWECW" Championship as an actually Heavyweight Title, just my personal opinion.

Unlike my previous article, Ranking Every WWE Champions In The 21st Century, for this slide-show, I haven't just taken in account the length of the title reigns.

Criteria In Rankings:

1). Amount Of Heavyweight Reigns

2). Reign Lengths

3). Prestige Of Reigns

4). How many great matches did he give as champion?

If I just went by title reign, I do feel these would be pretty obvious rankings.

46. Mr. McMahon

Amount Of Heavyweight Titles In WWE: 1

Stats:

1x WWE Champion

Anybody remember good ol' Vinnie Mac being the big man on campus for a spectacular four days?

Vince McMahon would go ahead and cement his name in the short list of WWE Title holders by defeating Triple H (yeah, you heard me TRIPLE H), in an unscheduled one on one match for the WWE Championship.

One of the most awkward matches in WWE history for sure, Vince's son, Shane McMahon, was the referee and Vince beat his son in law to pick up the strap.

Of course, he needed the help of a "Rattle Snake" to get the win, but a win is a win, I suppose.

Four days later Vince forfeited the belt back to "The Game", holding it for less then a week.

44. Stan Stasiak

Not many people really know a whole lot about Stasiak, he ended the legendary WWE Title reign on Pedro Morales, but he only had the WWE Title for about a week and half.

Going into that classic match with Morales, everyone thought that it was just going to be another walk in the park for Morales. Pedro had a improbable two year run as the WWE Champion and Stasiak was a virtual nobody.

Pedro dominated Stan throughout the entire match, and at one point was playing around with Stasiak.

Morales landed his signature back suplex and, much like Mr. Perfect used to do, he went right into the pinning position. However, Stan got his arm up while Pedro's arms were still on the mat, forcing a one-two-three, and giving Stan the belt.

Years later, Stan's son Shawn became apart of the WWE, but he never really amounted to anything.

40. The Iron Sheik

No doubt, the most hated "heel" during his time in the WWE. Hall Of Famer The Iron Sheik starts off the top 40.

Going into his bout with Bob Backlund, The Iron Sheik was considered the best technical wrestler the WWE had to offer at the time and Bob Backlund was the biggest star the WWE had.

This match had all the makings of one of the greatest ever.

It definitely didn't let the fans down. The two put on a good match and Sheiky went on to win the match, but it was considered a cheap win by many. The fact that Bob Backlund came into the match with an injured back didn't help the credibility of Sheik's win.

39. Jack Swagger

Amount Of Heavyweight Titles In The WWE: 1

Stats:

1x World Heavyweight Title

"The All-American-American," Jack Swagger proved his worth at Wrestlemainia 26 when he won the coveted "Money In The Bank" Briefcase. After that win, we all pretty much knew that he was going to become the World Champion, it was simply a question of where and when.

The next night on Monday Night Raw, just when we thought the WWE was finally going to have John Cena lose the WWE Championship (yeah, right) to someone, they decide to throw a curveball and have Jack Swagger look "weak" instead.

Swagger wouldn't wait long to redeem himself though. He cashed in his case later that week on Friday Night Smackdown and elevated himself to the main-event scene.

Jack wouldn't hold the title for very long, two months, but did have some good matches as the champion.

38. Sgt. Slaughter

Well, he did, and to win the belt, he ended The Ultimate Warrior's great reign as the WWE Champion.

Very few men can be considered "pure heels," men that the fans absolutely wanted to lose. Sgt. had just betrayed America and became an Iraqi "trooper." "Heels" of today might be hated by a majority of the fans, but they still have followers, no one wanted Slaughter to beat The Ultimate Warrior.

Alas, The Ultimate Warrior could have beat Slaughter if he had just agreed to give Randy "Macho Man" Savage an opportunity for the WWE Title next.

Instead, The Warrior said "no" and Slaughter agreed to it. Immediately Sgt. got allies in his match with The Warrior.

After "Macho Man" crushed The Ultimate Warrior's head with his captor, Slaughter got the pin fall win.

A dark day for WWE fans.

WWE Title Reign:

Won It—The 1991 Royal Rumble- Jan. 19, 1991—Beat The Ultimate Warrior

Lost It—Wrestlemainia VII- Mar. 24, 1991Lost to Hulk Hogan

Reign Length:

Two months

Video:

Sgt. Slaughter actually beats The Ultimate Warrior. It's the last 5 minutes of the match.

31. Sid

Amount of Heavyweight Titles: 2

Stats:

2x WWE Champion

After sitting on the sidelines for a little while, a man that went simply by the name of Sid, got his chance at the spotlight when he battled "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels at the 96' Survivor Series.

30. Goldberg

In his short time with World Wrestling Entertainment, Goldberg managed to capture the illustrious World Heavyweight Championship.

He was a former WCW Heavyweight Champion before he came to the WWE, so he was no stranger to success.

He was the World Champion in the WWE once, but he had a decent three month reign in a time where Triple H was grabbing the belt every other month.

Bill had a pretty average match to win the strap. He and "The Game" met at the 2003 Unforgiven PPV. Despite Triple H' best efforts, Goldberg's strength was too much for him.

The only thing I pick on Goldberg for is that this title reign wasn't very, how should I say it, "over the top".

He didn't seem to get elevated to the next level when he won the belt. Certain guys like Undertaker, Steve Austin, and Triple H, took their careers to a whole new level when they got it, that didn't happen for Bill.

29. Ric Flair

Amount of Heavyweight Titles: 2

Stats:

2x WWE Champion

Two of Naitchs' sixteen Heavyweight Championships, were WWE Champion reigns.

The cocky and vain superstar was a star in the NWA, and in WCW.

When he decided to leave WCW to come to the WWE, he didn't leave any of his charisma behind. Ric became a "heel" and claimed that he was the only real WWE Champion, insulting greats like Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage.

Flairs' first title reign was the more successful of his two. He won it at the '92 Royal Rumble and went on to hold it for about three months.

Ric eventually dropped the belt to Randy "Macho Man" Savage at Wrestlemania VIII.

His second time with the strap wasn't very good, he needed a ton of help to win it in the first place and he only had it for about a month.

25. Yokozuna

By far the heaviest man to ever win the World Title, and that's saying a lot considering Big Show has held it. The monster simply known as Yokozuna will start off the top 25.

Weighing in at a heaping 650 pounds and a normal man's size of 6'4, Yokozuna was surprisingly athletic for a man of his size.

The mammoth shocked the world when he beat the "Pink and Black Attack," Bret Hart at Wrestlemania. But alas, he would only hold the belt for a matter of minutes before Hulk Hogan came down to the ring and challenged him for the belt.

Yokozuna was beat by Hulk and he became one of the first "paper champions" in the history of pro wrestling.

Or would he? Yokozuna got a rematch at the 1993 King Of The Ring PPV when he faced his rival Hulk Hogan for the WWE Championship.

Just when it looked like the Hulkster was going to put the beast away, a photographer jumped up to the ring apron and blasted Hulk with a fireball. Yokozuna hit a leg drop and got the title.

This time, he would have a lot more success. He had a tight grip on the gold for an amazing nine and half months.

WOW, nine and half months, you'd think I would have ranked him way higher.

Not really. Sure he held the belt for a long time, but he needed his manager, Mr. Fuji, to help him retain the title almost every single time.

Still, as a wise man once said, "If your not cheating, you not trying."

23. Booker T

All hail King BoooKAAHHH! Come on, seriously, who didn't love Booker's hilarious promos as a "King?"

This "King" gimmick helped Booker get out of the mid-cards and finally win the World Heavyweight Championship.

At The Great American Bash, Booker faced fan favorite Rey Mysterio for the belt. With the help of Chavo Guerrero, Booker took control of the SmackDown Kingdom.

It was a good reign as champion; Booker held it for an impressive four months.

However, this wasn't his first taste of Heavyweight gold in the WWE. No, Booker actually became the first ever "WCWWE" Champion. In other words, the first ever WCW Champion under the control of the WWE.

Booker won the belt on the last ever episode of WCW Monday Night Nitro and was Champion for four months.

Booker had one more reign as WCWWE Champion, but this reign only lasted three weeks

20. Chris Jericho

Lets give Chris Jericho some credit, he started his career out as an underrated Cruiserweight in WCW and became a World Champion when he came to the WWE.

Jericho got his first lick of WWE Title gold when he beat The Rock for the "WCWWE" Championship, though he didn't hold it long (one month). Jericho proved to everyone he was a force to be reckoned with.

But the greatest achievement in Chris's career has to be when he became the first EVER Undisputed World Champion, defeating both The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin in the same night, making a little history.

Jericho would go on to hold the Undisputed Championship close to four months, and in those four months beat Steve Austin, The Rock, and headlined Wrestlemania.

Jericho would rack up a few more reigns as a World Champion when he returned to the WWE in 2007.

Since his return, Jericho has added three more World Title runs to his resume, making him one of the elite performers of his generation.

Jericho would give "5 Star Matches" every time he held the title. His matches against Shawn Michaels and Triple H for the title are legendary.

19. Brock Lesnar

Amount of Heavyweight Titles: 3

Stats:

3x WWE Champion

The current UFC Heavyweight Champion is at #19 on the top WWE Heavyweight Champions list.

Brock made his presence known when he first arrived in the WWE, bashing on the Hardys in multiple two on one handicap matches and destroying almost everyone with the "F-5." It was only a matter of time before "The Next Big Thing" became the next WWE Champion.

Lesnar realized his dream when he beat "The People's Champ" at SummerSlam, a match properly named, "Brock vs. Rock".

Lesnar got a lot better in the ring as his time with the belt increased. Just compare what he did in his early WWE days and what he did when he was in the middle of his dominance.

Brock had great bouts with The Big Show, Chris Benoit, John Cena, and The Undertaker, but no man pushed Brock quite the way Kurt Angle did. Together, Brock and Kurt headlined Wrestlemania and put on a tremendous "60-Minute Iron Man Match."

Brock was dominate in the WWE regardless of how long he was in the company.

13. The Undertaker

Amount Of Heavyweight Titles: 7

Stats:

4x WWE Champion

3x World Heavyweight Champion

"The Phenom," The Undertaker and his seven reigns as the World Champ, get him the #13 ranking.

Perhaps no wrestler has ever stood the test of time quite like "The Deadman." Making his debut in the early 90's, we could have seen this guy's gimmick completely flop and make him the biggest laughing stock in WWE history.

But that's not exactly what happened now is it? He played his persona to perfection, and over his career has beaten everyone there is to beat.

Undertaker's first WWE Title reign was cut short thanks to "Superman' Hulk Hogan, and it wouldn't be until six years later, that he got his second World Title.

The Undertaker has received a couple of five month reigns as champion and has always honorably defended the title every time he had the strap.

The Undertaker's biggest rival for the World Championship might be his most underrated, Edge. Both battled it out for the gold on numerous occasions, "The Deadman" usually besting "The Rated R Superstar".

10. Pedro Morales

Amount Of Heavyweight Titles: 1

Stats:

1x WWE Champion

My old man used to tell me a few stories about how Pedro Morales was the biggest thing since sliced bread back in the day; about how he was one of the most beloved WWE superstars to ever lace up a pair of boots for the McMahon family.

The first ever Hispanic WWE Champion, Pedro Morales truly broke new ground when he beat Ivan Koloff for the belt back in 1971. Koloff only held the belt for about two and half weeks.

Pedro had a decent reign as the champ, you know, only holding it for 2 YEARS.

8. Randy Savage

Amount Of Heavyweight Titles: 2

Stats:

2x WWE Champion

The man that examplified everything that is "MACHO" is number eight on my list.

Who didn't love this guy?

"Macho Man" was just one of those guys that kept you interested throughout his entire match. A tremendous in-ring worker, Savage made everyone from Hulk Hogan to Sgt. Slaughter look fine and polished in the ring.

Accompanied by the beautiful Miss. Elizabeth, Savage went on to headline multiple Wrestlemania's and win two WWE Championships.

The first came at the expense of Ted Dibiase. It was a wild match up, but with a little help from Hulk Hogan, Savage hit his brilliant "Flying Elbow Drop" and won the WWE Title. A reign which lasted over a year.

The only wrestler to push Randy to the best of his abilities besides Ricky Steambost, was Ric Flair. The two headlined SummerSlam and left the fans fully satisfied.

Though Randy only had two reigns with the belt, for him to have such successful runs in a time where Hulk Hogan, The Ultimate Warrior, Ted Dibiase, and others were lurking around, I think Savage proved what a great champion he was.

7. Stone Cold Steve Austin

The face of the "Attitude Era," Stone Cold Steve Austin proved himself as one of the best ever in his heyday.

Though Austin never had a WWE Title reign that challenged John Cena's one year run as the champ, Austin, without a doubt, brought some "Stone Cold Prestige" to the WWE Title in his six solid reigns.

Austin delivered a promo saying he was going to kick your ass, then the PPV came around and he kicked your ass and walked out with the WWE Title. Just a normal day at the office for Steve Austin.

He was a champion who was just fun to watch. You never knew what insane "anti-hero" stunts the guy was going to pull.

He never needed any help retaining the WWE Championship.

Steve led the charge of the "brawlers" in the late 90's. Austin wasn't going to over complicate the match by doing different "toe-holds" and "arm locks," he got in the ring and was throwing punches.

And this type of wrestling style clearly worked out for the "Rattle Snake." He went on to headline Wrestlemania multiple times and he posted tremendous matches with Bret Hart, Undertaker, The Rock, Triple H, Mankind, Kane, and Shawn Micahels and he beat the crap out of all of them, just to let you know.

Backlund was blessed with fine mat wrestling skills and was able to incorporate that into numerous starstudded efforts against men like Ric Flair, Iron Sheik, Don Muraco, and other top notch performers.

Bob lost his first title because of an injured back and would wait more then a decade before getting a second title reign.

His time as the champ was very controversial. There were scandals of him actually losing matches where the WWE Title was on the line, but the WWE never acknowledged the title change.

Still, if you had the belt for over 5 years, I'm sure you were doing something right.

WWE Title Reigns:

Won It—WWE Live Event- Feb. 20, 1978—Beat Stan Stasiak

Lost It—WWE Live Event- Dec. 28, 1983—Lost to Iron Sheik

Won It—1994 Survivor Series- Nov. 24, 1994—Beat Bret Hart

Lost It—WWE Live Event- Nov. 26, 1994—Lost to Diesel

WWE Title Reign Length(s):

First Reign: Five years

Second Reign: Three days

Video:

I couldn't find the match where Backland won the WWE Title, but I found this follow up interview.

3. Bret Hart

When the icon Hulk Hogan was dropping hints of possible retirement, the WWE front management were scrambling across their roster looking for the next "Superstar."

They would have to look no further "Then the best there is, the best there was, and the best there ever will be," Bret Hart.

Along with The Ultimate Warrior, Hart was one of the very few WWE wrestlers that made me watch WWE on occasion. His whole "Hitman" appearance, with the pink and black, was "cool" enough to win over any five year-old kid.

Bret raised to the main event spot when he beat Ric Flair for the WWE Championship. Hart would hold the belt for a solid six months.

Bret's best reign as champ came when he bested Yokozuna and held the title for eight months.